System for network resource management

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention provides an improved system for network resource management.
The present system provides network management functions using existing network user software.
In one embodiment, clients perform platform independent network management using existing browser software.
This embodiment enables a client to perform network management without the requirement of learning a specialized network management protocol or language.
In one embodiment, a client directly manages a network resource using any TCP/IP network by selecting specialized options using existing browser software.
For instance, in an HTML environment a network resource is managed using an existing browser, such as NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR, MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER, NCSA MOSAIC, or any HTTP-compatible browser.
According to one embodiment, the network resource is programmed with a network module having an options database which provides one or more options to a client as it accesses the network resource.
The options are tailored to the network resource device being controlled.
The client selects options to request performance of operations by the network resource.
In one embodiment, the network module is programmed with one or more native network resource instructions.
These instructions are stored in a native resource instruction library.
Options selected by the client are transmitted as messages over the network to the network resource and are interpreted by an instruction module by comparing each message to the one or more instructions in the native resource instruction library.
The network module processes each received message to decide the appropriate operation.
In one embodiment, the options presented to the client are updated and other fault/status information is available to the client to enhance the resource management by the client.
One environment in which the present invention is demonstrated is in a rack modem system.
Device specific operations are demonstrated to illustrate the operation and flexibility of one embodiment of the present invention